Responsive to an actuation, a browser installed on a client computing device can extract a uniform resource locator (URL) from the content item, and retrieve an online resource from a network location specified by the URL. In addition to the network location of the online resource, the URL can also specify one or more redirects. A redirect in the URL can direct the browser to transmit data to a different network location prior to retrieval of the online resource. Each additional redirect adds a delay between actuation of the content item and display of the online resource. The redirects can be used to perform accounting or measurement of the content item actuation, but may not otherwise provide much additional value to the user. If the delay becomes significant, the user may become frustrated and cancel retrieval of the online resource prior to completion.